The experts say I should run slower in training - should I?

At 45 miles a week, does it really matter? Run what feels right.

I'm in the same boat. Those paces are most comfortable for me to run as far as turnover and perceived effort.

I am also a duathlete and I just find it better to keep the running I do at a faster tempo. It is so easy to lose your running legs by biking and doing slow running. For me it works better to do the slower stuff on the bike.

Good to hear from a fellow duathlete. Interesting, I always find that running 7:00/mile or slower feels like shuffling. You mention your training paces are similar to mine - are your pb's in line with mine as well?

Oh right, well then, which races have you competed in? My last race was Powerman Zofingen in Switzerland in August. I finished in 7h28min, ahead of several pros.

That wasn't the same guy....someone stole his name.

If you're comfortable on your "easy" runs, feel like you're recovering OK, and hitting the right paces in your workouts, I vote you have no reason to change. It's not like slower is inherently better training, it's more like, you have a limited capacity for (mileage X speed).

If you increase your mileage considerably, you'll probably need to slow down some on easy days. For many this seems to happen fairly automatically; from reading the experience of others, it seems like some who are less in touch with or pay less heed to their body's signals will find out they were going too fast by breaking down.

When I dropped from ~90 mile weeks this spring to about half that, I found my daily run pace kind of self-adjusted to at least :30/M faster. Presumably (from prior experience) it would have slowed down some, had I built back up as planned rather than spending a couple months sick.

Thanks for the heads up. I don't post much here and I guess it shows! Apologies to the original SMJO.

As long as you feel good and are recovering then I wouldn't worry about it.

That makes sense to me. I guess because I don't run high mileage I don't carry as much fatigue into my easier running and can go a bit faster. My cycling does produce some fatigue that affects my running, but it's not quite the same as the fatigue you get from running high mileage.

why don't you just run more? you'll probably get way better.

It seems like 'listen up' fancies himself the funny guy of the board right now.

My 10km is 34:35 and my half marathon 1:18. I don't have a huge amount of time for biking either so I'm just trying to make the most of limited training time. I agree that slow running feels a bit too much like shuffling. I'm also only doing the shorter duathlons. Usually about 10km total running and between 20 and 30 on the bike.

entirely off topic, but after seeing a topic title like that I totally expected 430miler to be all over this thread.

why do you run anyway? who cares what pace you run? do whatever you want man.

I never run less than 90% of maximum pace.

SMJO wrote: My 10km is 34:35 and my half marathon 1:18. ... I agree that slow running feels a bit too much like shuffling.

You can run 10k in 34:35 and yet only manage 1:18 for the half?

Doh!

Methinks slowing down your easy day pace might help correct that imbalance.

Short answer: easy running for 90-120 mins. increases capillary density and running-specific mitochondria, which will allow you to transport more blood and will support more intense training. If you were to run, say, for 1:45 at 7:15 per mile, that would be about 14.5 miles. If you tried doing that once a week for about eight weeks, you might make significant progress. But this type of training is most effective at durations of 90 mins. or longer. So slower training can work quite well if you increase the duration. That's what base training largely involves. But of course, even during base training you would need to do some faster stuff, like a tempo run or cruise intervals, at least every 10 days.

Okay, but I do a 90min run every week. I just do it at 6:30 rather than 7min+.

H Simpson wrote:

SMJO wrote: My 10km is 34:35 and my half marathon 1:18. ... I agree that slow running feels a bit too much like shuffling.

You can run 10k in 34:35 and yet only manage 1:18 for the half?

Doh!

Methinks slowing down your easy day pace might help correct that imbalance.

Maybe so but I am best at running 600-800 so the drop off with longer distance is probably for more reasons than just poor aerobic development. I also ran that half the week after running my 10k pb and had sustained a serious lower back injury that inhibited my stride. I think I was good more another minute faster(which is probably still a bit off matching the 10k time).

Here are some reasons I don't run more:

1. I'm at med school and can't afford the time to train more than 13 hours per week.

2. If I run more, I have to cycle less, which means I won't be as fast on the bike. At the end of the day, I'm training to race duathlons, not 10k road races (though I race those as well).

3. I've only been running for 2 years and I spent most of last year running ~20 miles per week. 45 mpw is actually quite a bit for me right now, and experience tells me if I crank up running volume too quickly I end up injured.